Freewrite Traveler assessment: I hate how a lot I prefer it

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At a look Skilled's Score Professionals

Extremely readable e-ink display

Gentle and moveable

Good keyboard

Cons

Means too costly

No backlight

Restricted performance

Our Verdict The Freewrite Traveler is approach too costly and lacks primary options like a backlight or spell test, however its targeted interface and stable keyboard imply it’s higher than different, related units.

Worth When Reviewed

This worth will present the geolocated pricing textual content for product undefined

Finest Pricing At the moment

Worth When Reviewed $549

Finest Costs At the moment: Freewrite Traveler

I actually just like the Freewrite Traveler. And I sort of hate that I prefer it.

As I mentioned in a assessment for the same system, the KingJim Pomera DM250, I’ve been searching for a small, travel-friendly, devoted writing gadget (a “author deck,” if you'll) for a very long time. And I’ve been conscious of the Astrohaus Freewrite units for a very long time, too, and regarded the Traveler as a great type issue for this admittedly area of interest class. However numerous points of it rubbed me the incorrect approach.

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The Freewrite advertising and marketing has at all times smacked of “hipster” to me. It’s the identical form of smarmy, condescending tone that appears to pervade Moleskine notebooks. Whereas I can perceive its hyper-focused method — that’s sort of the entire level — its deliberate lack of utility rankled towards my instincts as a tech nerd. And given these limitations, Astrohaus’s costs for its numerous units appear ridiculous to me. The Traveler, for instance, has specs that might disgrace an entry-level Chromebook or Kindle, but prices $550, and hasn’t seen an replace in years.

(With reference to value: I purchased this specific mannequin secondhand, therefore the assorted dings within the plastic, and with my very own cash. My editor Brad may slap me if I attempted to expense one thing like this.)

Freewrite Traveler: Have a look at me! I’m writing!

Even the aesthetics of the system are smarmy. Whereas the Pomera DM250 went with an understated soft-touch plastic with no exterior logos in any respect, the Freewrite Traveler has a MASSIVE, engraved steel brand on its shiny lid, the sort of branding that might make even Apple cringe. The inside is attention-grabbing white with pink and chrome accents. It’s loud, which is sort of ironic for one thing that’s presupposed to be small and devoted to writing.

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It makes use of a non-backlit, membrane keyboard. Its small e-ink display additionally has no backlight, which presents a severe obstacle if you wish to use the system in something however a well-lit room (or add on a e book mild prefer it’s 1995). Between the processing energy that might be bested by an historical graphing calculator and the 5.5-inch e-ink display, the refresh charge is so gradual that I’m continuously two or three phrases forward as I kind this very assessment.

The Freewrite Traveler is overpriced, underpowered, and incessantly happy with itself. And dammit, I've to confess that it’s fairly darn good.

Freewrite Traveler: Minimalism to the max

For the distraction-free writing purist, most of those drawbacks are in reality positives, with the potential exception of the worth. The shortage of superior capabilities, together with any sort of severe enhancing chops or spell test, means there’s nothing to do however churn out phrases. (And many spelling errors.) Astrohaus software program lacks even primary copy and paste performance, so there’s nothing to do however write, write, write in a form of stream of consciousness movement. You get a number of paperwork to work in and three totally different folders, that’s it.

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When it’s time to get your phrases onto one thing with extra digital oomph than a Palm Pilot, the simplest approach to take action is the Ship button. This robotically syncs through Wi-Fi with the Astrohaus Postbox cloud platform, which might additionally robotically ship textual content paperwork to Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, and Evernote through related accounts. That is characteristically clunky — once I related the service to Google I immediately began getting e-mail alerts as a result of it simply despatched me an e-mail with the related textual content. However it's extremely quick and straightforward, actually one button.

Alternately you may scorn any sort of wi-fi connection altogether, plug the factor instantly right into a PC, pill or telephone, and easily copy off your phrases as textual content information in a easy storage system.

The Postbox internet interface can also be the place you may regulate a few settings. You may select between three, three entire font sizes and 0 precise fonts, and add a lockscreen for a little bit of privateness in case your Traveler will get misplaced or stolen. It's also possible to change between keyboard layouts (although the bodily format is available in something you need, as long as you need US-focused ANSI). You may select between extraordinarily pretentious e-ink screensavers of well-known literary figures, (once more, shades of Moleskine) or much more Freewrite branding that’s barely much less annoying. Aaaaaand… that’s all.

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The system itself provides barely the rest when it comes to customization or instruments. The tiny, superfluous strip of a display beneath the 5.5-inch main show can present a clock or date, phrase depend, a timer, or just be left clean. You may transfer or delete drafts within the three folders. You may hook up with new Wi-Fi networks. And that’s about it. We’re taking minimalism to an excessive right here — even the obsessively targeted Pomera DM250 had no less than as a lot operate as, say, a digital organizer from the Nineteen Nineties.

As limiting as I discover the Freewrite Traveler, I prefer it much more than the Pomera. The primary cause is the one which soured me on the latter with none hope of forgiveness: the keyboard. The Traveler’s keyboard isn’t superb, however it's stable. Roughly the identical as a high quality laptop computer keyboard, although less than the excessive requirements of, say, a ThinkPad laptop computer. It’s sufficient to blow the cramped, non-standard-sized keyboard of the Pomera out of the water.

<img decoding="async" data-wp-class--hide="state.isContentHidden" data-wp-class--show="state.isContentVisible" data-wp-init="callbacks.setButtonStyles" data-wp-on-async--click="actions.showLightbox" data-wp-on-async--load="callbacks.setButtonStyles" data-wp-on-async-window--resize="callbacks.setButtonStyles" src="https://b2c-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Freewrite-Traveler-and-Pomera-DM250-keyboards.jpg?quality=50&strip=all&w=1200" alt="Freewrite Traveler and Pomera DM250 keyboards" class="wp-image-2918955" width="1200" height="703" loading="lazy"/> The Freewrite’s keyboard is a normal 60% format, and much more snug than the cramped, low cost one on the Pomera.

Michael Crider/Foundry

The typing expertise of that system was about the identical as an inexpensive pill keyboard, whereas the Freewrite appears like one thing that’s designed with typing in thoughts. Maybe the truth that Freewrite’s flagship Sensible Typewriter/Hemingwrite system (ugh) makes use of a standard-sized mechanical keyboard ought to have clued me into the best way this firm is much extra targeted on the expertise of typing, not simply the practical enter of textual content. And since I’m mentioning that, I’ll say that those that have smaller fingers (I’m a 5’10” cis male, for reference) may discover the Pomera’s smaller keyboard extra forgiving.

(Slight apart: the Freewrite Alpha can also be price a point out as a transportable design, with a greater, totally mechanical keyboard, a lower cost… and sadly a fair smaller display, although that may be a extra practical LCD. It additionally lacks a hinge, one of many issues I needed for laptop-style typing that I couldn’t accomplish with only a Bluetooth keyboard and a telephone or pill.)

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You may see this philosophy in one other distinction between the units. The Pomera allows you to hook up with a telephone or pill over Bluetooth, to successfully flip that gadget right into a Bluetooth keyboard. Which is one thing I by no means needed to do, due to the aforementioned poor keyboard high quality. The Freewrite Traveler doesn’t have Bluetooth in any respect, and actually it goes in the other way. You may plug in any USB-based keyboard into the Traveler’s USB-C port, in case you need to use a greater keyboard on this stripped-down, targeted interface.

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Michael Crider/Foundry

Different design choices present this dedication to pure writing or drafting. There aren't any devoted cursor keys, you may transfer the cursor with the pink “New” keys and WASD. This appears a bit of awkward at first, however after a couple of hundred phrases it turns into second nature to navigate by phrases, traces, and paragraphs, because of good selections made in how the system handles instructions and inputs.

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After per week with the Traveler I’ve already used it way over the Pomera, principally as a result of it’s extra snug. However I've to confess that, regardless of appreciating the much more succesful and even smart working system from the Japanese KingJim design, the Freewrite setup is simply extra conducive to really getting phrases down. Even the syncing system, although far much less versatile and highly effective, is extra satisfying — I press a button and my draft seems in Gmail.

The Pomera DM250 has a greater, backlit display, much more visible choices, and it’s much less pretentious. However between the keyboard and the singular focus, the Traveler is the higher system, no less than for me. My techie spendthrift soul cringes at a $550 price ticket (thanks, Trump tariffs!) for one thing so threadbare when it comes to precise {hardware}. However my author soul says “simply shut up and use it, you’re reaching in the direction of 5000 phrases in the present day and also you don’t really feel drained in any respect.”

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Michael Crider/Foundry

The Freewrite Traveler does every thing I needed the Pomera to do, even when it’s doing quite a bit much less. It’s a lot smaller and extra moveable than a laptop computer, it lasts far longer on a cost, it refuses to supply any distractions, and it’s truly participating to make use of as a writing system. That is an costly device, even when it makes me really feel like an costly device for liking it.

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I want I might rip the keyboard off the Freewrite Traveler and graft it onto the Pomera DM250, and in some way deliver its prompt Wi-Fi syncing together with it. However till some designer makes that occur, I’ll have to hold with the hipsters. And within the meantime, I’ll promote the Pomera… as a result of neither of this stuff is anyplace near a great worth.